I work in Brooklyn, but I’m a Queens girl at heart. I’ve lived in Astoria (twice!), Elmhurst (twice!), and Jackson Heights (twice!). It don’t really miss Jackson Heights, but I do miss Espresso 77, which is the best, cutest, most awesome coffee shop in all of Queens (run by the best people with the most adorable daughter in the history of humanity). Astoria just doesn’t have anything quite as good…as far as I know.

Tim, my boyfriend and my boo and my bestiebestfriend, has an art show coming up at E77! Everybody scream! I’m so excited. So, we scoped the place out. We’ve been there many, many, many times, but we were paying closer attention to wall-space and artsy fartsy stuff like that. Tim had a soy chai latte because he’s a badass vegan and I had this lemonade with chunks of ginger that rocked my universe.

E77 always has art up, and while the windows weren’t part of the current art installation, I really dug them.

Hand-drawn coffee cups hanging from the window! Extra pretty.

I thought the fairy lights outside made it extra sparkly.

This is what Tim looks like when he’s just looking around at stuff.

He's the prettiest and the smartest!

Lots of people ask me, Hey Ingrid, you’re a 30-Something librarian. What should I wear to a coffee shop in Queens? Rest easy, kids. I got this.

Have you considered a mirrored necklace that says KITTEN and a cameo of an old-timey sailor girl?

Hello Miss Sad Pants, and her friend, Serious Sally! How about a nice cool mint to help turn those frowns upside down?

Sad little sailor girl’s name is Sally. She lives on a boat with her dad, who’s a boat captain. I’m a children’s librarian, so if someone asks you who the girl on your necklace is, you better come up with a good story or they’ll eat you for breakfast and then someone else gets your job.